Heating systems for campers and recreational vehicles are widely known. Conventional water heating systems for RV's generally fall into two classes. The first class includes systems that have a heating element(s) that extends into a cavity that holds several gallons of water. The heating element ultimately heats the entire volume of water in the cavity. Drawbacks to this first class include a lack of continuous hot water. In addition, the first class of systems takes a relatively long period of time to heat water.
The second class involves systems that heat a relatively small volume of water with a gas or electric heating device. Conventional systems of the second class include propane, or other open flame “flash furnace” heating systems that directly heat domestic water supplied to the system. Open-flame systems like these are relatively expensive and relatively unsafe when used in a recreation vehicle. In addition, a propane system is ineffective to provide a constant supply of hot water.